


Quid Pro Quo

by Miss_Nihilist



Series: I Think There's a Fault in My Code [7]
Category: Astro Boy (2009)
Genre: Bounty Hunters, Gen, Second Chances, Uneasy Allies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:20:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25508107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Nihilist/pseuds/Miss_Nihilist
Summary: “I just need a few days to get this sorted out on my own terms!” Astro insisted. “Name your price. I can get you anything you need, all I want is to lay low here until the bounty hunters move on to a different location to search for me.”Hamegg’s interest had been piqued. The possibilities raced through his head and a grin stretched across his face. “Anything?”
Series: I Think There's a Fault in My Code [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1767133
Comments: 8
Kudos: 46





	Quid Pro Quo

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt for this one is "bounty on their head." I just wanted to do something with Hamegg.

The building shook from impact, concrete cracking and plaster raining down, dusting Hamegg's studio with a fine layer of it. His project fell to the ground, cracking and breaking immediately upon impact.

Hamegg cursed, but there was little he could do about it. He threw himself under his work bench, huddling up to protect his head as he waited for the earthquake to stop.

Or, at least, he _thought_ it was an earthquake. He thought it was an earthquake right up until the shaking stopped and he heard footsteps, along with a weak call of, " _Hamegg?"_

Hearing his own name was never a good sign, and the chances of it being friendly tended to drop sharply when it followed an attack on his workshop. Hamegg wasn't much of a fighter and, unfortunately, the robots around his workshop were all offline for repairs after another humiliating defeat in what used to be _his_ Robot Games. It just hadn't been the same since that little robotic _brat_ had—!

Just as suddenly as it came, the anger faded. Hamegg shook the thought from his head and pulled himself out from under his desk as quietly as he could. He could hear the sharp tap of footsteps getting closer, moving slowly. He grabbed a wrench off of his workbench and held it over his shoulder like a bat. If nothing else, it would stun whoever it was long enough for Hamegg to make a run for it. He had a few safehouses that he could lay low in, but the likelihood of that succeeding depended largely on who had shown up at his workshop.

There was no telling who it was. Hamegg had a lot of enemies. A lot of people had been scammed over the years, and there were even more who were jealous of his genius.

He pressed himself to the wall next to his workshop door, waiting with his breath held for his visitor to round the corner. If he was lucky, it wouldn't even have to be a fight. He just had to get the timing right.

"Hamegg?" Another call of his name and there was something familiar about it. Hamegg didn't waste time thinking about it. The footsteps stopped outside of his door and he heard something sparking. The knob rattled and the door was shoved open. With a shout, Hamegg swung around and slammed the wrench into the person's head.

There was a dull, metallic thud and Hamegg found himself staring, frozen, into two very much awake and annoyed brown eyes. "Ouch! Hey, what was that for?" The wrench was ripped from his hands and Hamegg was once again taken aback to see that it had been bent at a sharp, sloping angle.

Then Hamegg finally managed to get a grip on himself and absorb what he was actually looking at. A child stood in front of him, barely five feet tall. He was covered in dirt and plaster, sticking to his skin, dampened from the rain. His clothes were torn and singed, like he had been in a nasty fight. But it was when Hamegg took another look at his face that he finally recognized the kid who had busted through his roof in the middle of a stormy night to speak to him.

"You!" Hamegg snatched the broken wrench back from Astro's hands, tossing it over his shoulder and into his scrap metal pile with a clatter. It was basically useless with the mouth crunched in on itself. "You've got some nerve showing your face back here after what you did, kid. I had a pretty sweet set-up going on until you ruined it."

Astro's wide-eyed look of surprise drew down into a scowl, a flash of annoyance in his eyes. Whoever had created the kid put _way_ too many details into it. Hamegg couldn't help but find it creepy. "You were making money off of robot cruelty!" He protested. "I'm not going to apologize."

"Then get lost." Hamegg waved in the vague direction that Astro had come from, turning away from him. He went back to his pile of parts, pulling out nails and wood. There was a hole somewhere letting in rain that he had to fix. "Unless you're here for business, kid, I'm not interested. And it's going to have to be a pretty sweet deal to make up for you busting my roof."

"I wasn't _trying_ to—" Astro let out a grunt as he stumbled, catching himself against the wall and sending a broken robot that had been turned off toppling over in the process.

"Hey, watch it!" Rushing over, Hamegg picked up the old robot and moved it out of the way. "What's the matter with you? Gyroscope busted? Robots are supposed to be more graceful than that," he sneered. His gaze went lower and Hamegg blinked, surprised.

He knew that Astro had rocket boots, able to be interchanged with his regular feet, so seeing it sticking out wasn't the shocking part. Hamegg was more taken aback to see Astro clutching his right leg with one hand and limping, a gash torn just below his knee where wires were sticking out and sparking badly. He had similar cuts all over his body, now that Hamegg was getting a good look, but none were as bad as the one apparently keeping Astro from flying or walking correctly.

"It might be," Astro said with a humorless laugh, drawing Hamegg's attention back to his face. "I haven't done a system scan for damages yet and I stopped keeping count myself."

There was a strange feeling in Hamegg's chest, almost like pity. He swallowed a groan. He knew that he was going to regret asking, but… "Jeez, kid. You look awful. What happened?"

For a moment, Astro eyed him, unsure. Hamegg was convinced that he wasn't going to answer, but then he sighed. "Bounty hunters," Astro admitted, looking away. "Some of the other sky cities found out about me and there's been attacks for weeks now. Sometimes they just want my Core, sometimes they want my blueprints, sometimes they want the whole package." He grimaced. "So, I…"

"So you thought coming _here_ was a good idea?" Hamegg interrupted. "You must have gotten a few processing chips knocked out of place, robot boy! Get out of here before those goons end up blasting down my door, too!" The idea of turning Astro in crossed his mind. The bounty on his head had to be big. Hamegg tried to entertain the thought, but it didn't last long. Something about it made his stomach churn.

"I just need a few days to get this sorted out on my own terms!" Astro insisted, clasping his hands together pleadingly. He winced when he put weight back on his bad leg. "Look, I'll— Name your price. Seriously! My dad's loaded, I can get you anything you need, all I want is to lay low here until the bounty hunters move on to a different location to search for me."

Hamegg's interest had been piqued by the word "anything." A golden opportunity had just landed in his lap. The possibilities raced through his head. He had this kid wrapped around his finger, willing to give Hamegg _anything_ for permission to stay in a rusted, falling apart robot workshop. He could be rich. He could ask for weapons or tools. He could ask for a copy of Astro's blueprints and have his own obedient, super-powered robot. A grin stretched across his face. "You said _anything_?" But then Hamegg paused. Something occurred to him and he frowned in confusion. "Your dad? Do you mean your creator?"

Astro looked away, faltering as he grew uncomfortable. He opened his mouth, then paused, clearing his throat. "I, um, no, I mean my… dad," he said carefully. "You may have heard of him. He's the, uh, Head of the Ministry of Science. His name is Doctor Tenma."

Had it been physically possible, Hamegg's jaw would have been on the floor. "And you say he's your _dad_?" He managed eventually, sounding faint.

"Yeah." Astro chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "See, he, uh, had a genetic son, a normal human kid. And he died. There was this… accident." Something flashed in Astro's eyes and Hamegg felt a shiver run down his spine. He had never been close to death before and Hamegg couldn't imagine what it must be like to be a constant reminder of your own fatality. "So he made a robot to look like his son and implanted it with his memories and made it strong enough to never have to worry about dying again. Then he turned it on when he was done, and…" Astro gestured at himself, still forcing that painful smile. "My name used to be Toby, if that helps. Toby Tenma."

Vaguely, Hamegg knew what he was talking about. Tenma had fired him a decade ago, but Hamegg could remember framed photos on his boss's desk, picturing a beautiful woman with a dark-haired child on her hip and Tenma's arms around them both. That last month before he was fired, he remembered those photos disappearing, tucked into a locked desk drawer, and a period of time where Tenma was grey-skinned and the bags under his eyes were more like tattoos as he lugged around a little boy who wouldn't stop asking for his mama.

Hamegg had never met the kid — in fact, he had hated kids — but looking back on his hazy recollections and then at the damaged and soaked robot in front of him… He felt his knees shake like they were going to give out and wanted to sit down. There was nowhere to sit in his workshop, though, so Hamegg remained standing.

He wanted to say that Tenma was insane for what he had done, that Astro ought to be ashamed of himself for wearing that dead boy's face, that Hamegg looked at him and wanted to be sick… But instead, when he finally found his voice, all Hamegg could say was, "The name Astro suits you better, kid."

The laugh that Astro let out wasn't amused so much as it was surprised, but his smile was grateful. "Thanks," he said. He shifted in place, anxious as he looked around. "So…? Can I stay a few days? I don't mean to put this on you, it's just that the whole city is crawling with bounty hunters right now and I'm tired of my dad and my friends trying to protect me and getting themselves hurt. At least no one will think to look for me here."

Hamegg could picture that, too. He could see Tenma taking a punch for his son, he could imagine Cora and the other kids getting shot at, he could envision Astro trying to get to school and being held up by people who wanted to hold him down and tear him open and…

...and kill him. That was really what it was, wasn't it? Hamegg looked into Astro's eyes and suddenly knew that he wasn't looking at a machine. Not anymore. Somehow, Tenma had been desperate enough over the loss of his son to make… well, not life, exactly, but something entirely new. Something close enough that it might as well be the same thing.

And this kid — who wasn't a robot and wasn't human — had come to Hamegg's orphanage all those months ago just looking for somewhere to belong. He had made friends, he had trusted Hamegg, he had enjoyed helping out. Yet, even when Hamegg ripped all of that away from Astro and then forced him to fight (tortured him into fighting, really, because Astro must have been agonized when Hamegg electrocuted him), it didn't change anything. Astro had still saved Hamegg's life and then let himself be arrested to prevent what would have undoubtedly been a massacre if Metro City's officers were ordered to open fire.

Looking at Astro, at his sparkling leg and slumping posture and sad, tired eyes, Hamegg felt his greed wilt. He knew that he couldn't do it. He couldn't ask Astro for fame or riches or knowledge. The thought of abusing the kid's kindness _again_ left Hamegg feeling queasy.

It took a moment to remember how to speak. "No price. You saved my life," was what Hamegg finally said. He forced himself to hold Astro's gaze and stuck out his hand to shake. "You can stay for as long as you need. After this, consider us even."

"Seriously?" Relief broke onto Astro's face as he slumped, letting out an exhausted laugh. "Oh, thank God…" He muttered. He reached out and took Hamegg's hand, shaking it eagerly a few times before letting go. "Thanks so much. I really appreciate this, Hamegg. And I promise to be out of here as soon as the coast is clear."

"No need to rush," Hamegg said with a kind smile, one that felt unfamiliar on his face. "You can take a seat on my workbench and I'll see what I can do about those scrapes and cuts. Then you can help me fix my roof and we'll be even. Again."

There was a playful glimmer in Astro's eyes, a welcome change from how defeated he had looked when he had limped in. "Sure thing. Thanks, Hamegg," he said as he made his way over to the desk.

"Oh, don't mention it." With a dismissive wave, Hamegg turned from Astro to open up the drawer where he kept the more delicate parts. "Now, tell me, does your daddy use silicone, polyurethane, or PVC wires?"

**Author's Note:**

> I know Hamegg in the manga didn't care that Astro saved his life, but movieverse Hamegg seemed like slightly less of a bastard and the idea of Astro forgiving him always made me soft.


End file.
